Natural Resources and Economic Growth: A Meta-Analysis

Arbeitspapier

An important question in development studies is how abundance of natural resources affects long-term economic growth. No consensus answer, however, has yet emerged, with approximately 40% of empirical papers finding a negative effect, 40% finding no effect, and 20% finding a positive effect. Does the literature taken together imply the existence of the so-called natural resource curse? In a quantitative survey of 402 estimates reported in 33 studies, we find that overall support for the resource curse hypothesis is weak when potential publication bias and method heterogeneity are taken into account. Our results also suggest that three aspects of study design are especially effective in explaining the differences in results across studies: 1) including an interaction between natural resources and institutional quality, 2) controlling for the level of investment activity, and 3) distinguishing between different types of natural resources.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: IES Working Paper ; No. 03/2016

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Nonrenewable Resources and Conservation: General ; Economic Development: Agriculture; Natural Resources; Energy; Environment; Other Primary Products ; Model Construction and Estimation
• Subject: natural resources ; economic growth ; institutions ; publication selection bias ; meta-analysis

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Havranek, Tomas ; Horvath, Roman ; Zeynalov, Ayaz
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Charles University in Prague, Institute of Economic Studies (IES)
• (where): Prague
• (when): 2016

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/174170
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:42 AM CET